Apparatus and methods for mixing gases and liquids and, more particularly, apparatuses for dissolving carbon dioxide in water to produce carbonated water, are well known. The quality of carbonated water depends primarily upon the thoroughness with which carbon dioxide is dissolved in the water.
Conventional systems to produce carbonated water use two basic principles. Namely, pressurized carbon dioxide is introduced into a standing volume of water to be carbonated while in a storage tank, or pressurized water is introduced into a tank with a carbon dioxide atmosphere. In either case, the carbonated water produced is stored in the tank until withdrawn. Generally these systems employ valves, pressure gauges and other complex devices in order to maintain adequate pressure in the storage tank.
It can be appreciated that if gaseous carbon dioxide and water are brought into contact with one another and mixed extensively over a long period of time in a large carbonating apparatus, where mixing of the carbon dioxide and water can be repeated until an optimal concentration is achieved, high-quality carbonated water will be obtained. However, the production of high-quality carbonated water becomes more problematic when time and space constraints are imposed on the carbonation apparatus, as is the case with, for example, restaurant beverage vending or in-home carbonated water dispensers.
Many issues are encountered with small scale carbonating apparatus. These range from problems regulating liquid and gas flow rates to spitting and sputtering which occurs upon initial operation due to a build up of pressure caused in part by the separation of gas and liquid upon standing for a period of time. Conventional systems that produce carbonated water suffer from several critical problems. Generally, those are expense, size, and complexity of the apparatus. All three of these problems need to be addressed in order to more effectively meet the in-home and small scale business application demand for carbonation apparatus.
Conventional carbonators often are bulky and have several valves and other components protruding from the carbonating tank (also called the carbonator). Additionally, conventional water carbonation apparatuses utilize large carbonating tanks for more efficient dispensing, because the carbonated water often needs to be stored under pressure after mixing in order that the carbonated water could be accessible on demand. Thus, it was impracticable to have only a small amount of carbonated water stored in the chamber, and large carbonating chambers became the norm. However, this large size and its corresponding footprint are undesirable.
Many conventional carbonation apparatuses employ a large tank for storing the carbonated water. As stated above, the apparatuses often use a large carbonator out of efficiency and a desire to have a large quantity of carbonated water on demand if needed. However, drawbacks of using a large storage vessel are numerous. Large carbonator vessels need to be pressurized or the carbonated water that is being stored will lack optimal carbonation. Likewise, carbonator vessels often need to be cooled, the cooling serves to keep the carbonated water at a pleasant temperature for drinking, but is often necessary to keep the beverage carbonated. Additionally, large storage containers will often need some automated mixing apparatuses, also aimed at maintaining or improving the concentration of carbonation in the carbonated water. Furthermore, all of these drawbacks increase the size, complexity and cost of carbonated water production. These drawbacks can be eliminated if the need to store the produced carbonated water is eliminated. Thus, the development of an instantaneous and continuous water carbonation device is desirable.
The embodiments described in this application are directed at a smaller, more streamlined, continuous source of carbonated water.